The Katiba Institute activists are planning to review a constitution loophole and cases of over 10,000 convicts who according to them were jailed under non existent laws in Kenya.
According to a petition filed by the Katiba Institute on January 30th, they challenged the court’s reference to robbery with violence and attempted robbery with violence to convict the prisoners.
According to their argument in the petition, the court had continued to use the laws criminalising robbery with violence and attempted robbery with violence which were declared unconstitutional by the High Court in March 2018.
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“We did so because the laws upon which numerous convictions were based were declared unconstitutional by the High Court over five years ago.”
Arguing further, the activists said that the Office of the Attorney General was given an 18-month window to amend the Constitution in collaboration with Parliament and other state organs. However, a review of the laws was still pending five years later.
Therefore the activists faulted the State for wasting the witnesses’ time and efforts by presenting them in cases that it argued were unconstitutional.
“Victims who cooperated with the State in securing these convictions must now come to terms with the realisation that their efforts were in vain, contributing unwittingly to a constitutional violation.”
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Defending the move, the organisation said that they are not in anyway defending criminals but following the constitution and using the constitution loophole to fight for the rights of all kenyans regardless of their alleged offences.
The Institute urged Kenyans to view the petition as a way of holding the State accountable for failing to implement justice reforms as obligated by the court. Most of the convicts’ cases will be reviewed to ascertain the move.